Planooraph co



J. HUBER.

CONTACT MINE FIRING GEAR.

' APPLlCATlON FILED FEB. 12, 1918. 1,319,153. Patented Oct. 21,1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

J. HUBER.

CONTACT MINE FIRING GEAR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 12, 1918.

1,319,158. Patented Oct. 21,1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

THL cmj\'vMm.\ PLANOGRAPII so" WASHINGTON, m c.

I. HUBER.

CONTACT MINE FIRING GEAR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 12, I918.

1,319,153. Patented 001. 21,1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

THE COLUMBIA PLANouR APN 60., WASHINGTON, n. c.

UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE.

JAMES HUBER, OFPHILADELPI-IIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR 'ro vIcKEas LIMITED, OF WESTMINSTER, LONDON, ENGLAND.

CONTACT-MINE FIRING-GEAR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 21, 1919.

Application filed. February 12, 1918. Serial No. 216,814.

' in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Contact-Mine F iring-Gears; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to submarine mines and particularly to that class of mines which are exploded upon contact with a shi in object of the invention resides in the provision of a mine which will explode only after it has come in contact with the hull of a ship, and further in so constructing the device that the liability of the parts becoming inoperative during the period between the planting of the mine and its explosion,

will be prevented.

With these and other objects in View, such as will appear as my description progresses, my invention comprises the combination and arrangement of parts as set forth in and falling within the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a sectional view of a portion of a mine showing one embodiment of my invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the device;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section of.a portion of the device, the section being taken on line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectionon line 41 of Fig. 1, disclosing the manner in which the operat ing lever is mounted;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail sectional view with the lever and detonator carrier in the positions they will occupy before the mine contacts with the ship; 7

Fig. 6 is a section of the lever locking element, the section being taken on line 6 6 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 7 is a of the device;

Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view through the same;

Fig. 9 is an enlargedsection of the contact carrying casting, the section being taken online 99 of Fig. 8; a

Fig. 10 is an enlarged sectional view.

plan view of a modified form showing the elements in the positions they will occupy beforethe safety ring has passed into solution, the section being taken on line l010 of Fig. 7, and

Fig. 11 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 1111 of Fig. 10.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 to 6, inclusive, the mine is indicated generally by the reference character 1, and is of the usual construction. Mounted on the upper side of the mine is a casting 2 which is in screwthreaded engagement with the mine at 3, and is provided with a central bore 4 which communicates at its lowerend with the interior of a guide tube 5. This guide tube is carried by the casting 2, and is of the form described in my co-pending application, Serial No. 216,816, filed February 12, 1918, being provided with elongated openings 6 adjacent to its lower end and being in communication with the detonator receiver 7 which carries the firing pin 8. The detonator 9 is supported on a carrier 10 which is maintained in position within the guide tube 5 by a wire or other suitable element 11 which is of such size and material that when suflicient pressure is applied to the carrier it will be sheared. Located in spaced relation to the carrier 10 and within the guide tube 5 is a piston 12 which is disposed immediately below the bore 4: and is supported within the tube by a spring 13 which bears upon the detonator carrier 10. This spring normally is under no, or at least little compression. When the water enters the tube 5 through the bore 4; in the casting 2 the piston 12 will be moved downwardly until the spring 13 is put under such compression that the wire 11 will be sheared. At this time the detonator 9 will be projected forcibly downwardly and will ignite the charge upon contact with the firing pin 8.

In order that the water may be excluded from the piston 12, except after the mine hascontacted with a ship, I have provided an inverted cup-shaped protector 14 which is preferably of the form illustrated in the drawing, or ofsome .similar form which will perform the function for which the protector is designed. This protector is preferably formed of a frangible material and is held in place, so as to close the bore 4, by a nut 15 which clamps the flange' lfi to the casting 2, a suitable washer 17 being disposed between the nut and the flange. WVhen this protector 1 1 is broken the water will have free access to and will operatehowever, in spaced relation to the mine, as 'clearly illustrated in Fig; 1 of the drawing.

This lever is secured rigidly in place, normally by means of pins 20, which extend through the cars 18 and through the lever. These pivot pins are, however, of such size and material that either one or the other,

or both, may be sheared and their supporting action thus destroyed upon the application of force to the lever. Depending from the ends of the lever are pivoted bills 21.

which,at their points, engage the outer surface of the mine topreventthe catching of cables or the like beneath the lever and the consequent fouling of the mine during. its launching.

Referring particularly to Fig. 5, it will be seen that'the lever 19 is provided with a recess 22 into which the protector 14 ex.

tends. The provision of this recess results in the formation of teeth 23 and 24:, the former being located at the sides of the protector and the latter immediately beneath the same, but in spaced relation thereto.

Mounted on one ear of each of the pairs of ears, is a safety lock which comprises a cylinder'25 in whichis mounted a locking pin 26. This pin is adapted to extend through the adjacent ear and into the lever 19. A spring 27 encircles each of these looking pins and tends to move the same from its operative position. However, this move ment of the locking pins is prevented before the mine is planted by the interposition of soluble elements 28 between the ends of the locking pins and the adjacent walls of the cylinders. These cylinders 25 are provided with openings 29 through which the water may have acces to the elements 28 so as to cause the same to pass into solution and thus release the locking pins 26 so that they may be acted upon by the springs. It will be seen that when these pins 26 are in their locking positions, the movement of the lever 19 with relation to the mine will be prevented.

After the mine has beenplanted, however,

the elements 28 will pass into solution. and the springs 27 will withdraw the locking pins so that the mine will be ready to explode upon the contact of the same with the hull of a ship.

Should the. one arm or the other of the lever 19 contact with the 111111 of a ship, the

contact arm will be depressed and moved toward the face of the mine. This action is made possible because of the fact that the force tending to move the arm acting against the buoyancy of the mine will cause the shearing of'one of the pivot pins 20 and prefer ably the one adjacent to the point of application of the force. Upon the movement of the lever as described, about the other pin as a pivot, one of the teeth 23 will bite into and rupture the. frangible protector 14 so that water may have access tothe piston 12 and operate upon the same in the manner which has been previously described. Of course, if the ship contacts with the lever directly midway between the pivot pins 20, it is possible that both of the pins will be sheared and this being done, the lever will b depressed until the upper tooth 24k ruptures the protector 14 and permits the entrance of water into the tube 5.

' Referring to the modification of the in vention disclosed in Figs. 7 to 11, inclusive, it will be noted that a substantially cylindrical casing 10 is mounted on the mine 1'. The lower end of this cylinder is provided with an axial bore 11, and the wall thereof is provided with elongated slots 12. A protector 13 of a shape somewhat similar to that illustrated in Fig. 5, is mounted so as to cover the bore 11, being held in. position by a nut 14.

The upper end of the cylinder is closed by a cap 15 which is provided with a socket 16 A ball 17 is mounted within this socket and is formed on or extends from a casting or spider 18, the movement of the ball with relation to the socket being, however, normally prevented by a pin 19 which extends through the cap 15 and into the upper side of the ball 17. This pin is of soft material and is of such size that when a cer tain force is applied to the spider or casting 18, the pin will, be sheared. Depending from the spider 18 is a fracturing tube 20 which envelops the upper end of the protector 13. A plurality of arms 21 extend outwardly from the spider 18 and through the slots 12 in the sides of the cylinder 10. A circular bar or pipe 22 surrounds the mine 1 and is attached to the ends of the arms 21, as illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8 pa1' tieularly.

In order that the relative movement of the arms 21 to the mine may be prevented during the launching of the mine, I have provided a locking ring 23, which encircles the tube 20 and closely engages the same, as well as the inner wall of the cylinder 10. This ring 23 is. supported in a raised position by means of a sup )orting ring 24 of soluble material, with w iich supporting ring the locking ring is adapted to change places after the former has passed into solution, and in which position the locking ring will be inoperative to prevent the rocking motion of the fracturing tube 20. Before the mine is launched the elements will be in the positions illustrated in Fig. 10, but after the mine has been launched the supporting ring 24 will pass into solution and permit the locking ring 23 to drop below the lower end of the fracturing tube 25, so that so far as the locking ring is concerned, this tube is free to Work. When the mine is engaged by the hull of a ship, one side of the cage which is formed by the arms 21 and the connector 22, will be moved toward the face of the mine, the force being sufficient to shear the safety pin 19. When such action as this takes place, the fracturing tube 20 will rupture the protector 18 and permit the access of water to the detonator operating piston, which is disclosed at 25.

It will thus be seen that the rupturing of the protector 13 during the launching of the mine will be absolutely prevented. Furthermore, this protector will not be ruptured by the effect of the water currents, but only upon the contact of the mine with the hull of a ship, which contact will result in the shearing of the pin 19.

What I claim is:

1. The combination with a contact mine, of a firing gear therefor, which gear includes a water-pressure-operated detonator, a frangible protector excluding the water from the detonator operating mechanism, and a lever having portions thereof arranged to rupture said protector, said lever being supported at two points by shearing pins.

2. The combination with a contact mine, of a firing gear therefor comprising a waterpressure-operated detonator, a frangible protector for controlling the entrance of the water to the detonator actuating mechanism, and a lever having portions thereof adapted to engage and rupture the protector, said lever being supported at two separate points by pins which are adapted to be sheared upon the application of pressure to the lever.

3. The combination with a contact mine, of a firing gear including a guide tube, a water-pressure-operated detonator in said tube, a frangible protector normally excluding the water from the tube, and a lever having portions to engage and rupture the protector, said lever being supported at two points by means which are adapted to be rendered inoperative to act as supports upon the application of pressure to the lever.

4. The combination with a contact mine, of a firing gear therefor, said gear comprising a tube, a water pressure operated detonator mounted in said tube, a frangible protector normally excluding the water from the tube, means to rupture said protector upon the contact of the mine with a ship, and means to lock said last mentioned means to prevent its operation during the launching of the mine.

5. The combination with a contact mine, of a firing gear therefor including a guide tube, a water-pressure-operated detonator mounted in said tube, a frangible protector normally operative to exclude water from said tube, lneans to rupture said protector, and means to lock said last mentioned means during the launching of the mine.

6. The combination with a contact mine, of a firing gear therefor including a guide tube, a water-pressure-operated detonator mounted in said tube, a frangible protector normally operative to exclude Water from said tube, means to rupture said protector, and means to lock said last mentioned means during the launching of the mine, said looking means being automatically rendered inoperative.

7. The combination with a contact mine, of a firing gear therefor including a guide tube, a water-pressure-operated detonator mounted in said tube, a frangible protector normally operative to exclude water from said tube, means to rupture said protector, means to lock said last mentioned means during the launching of the mine, said looking means being automatically rendered inoperative, and means to prevent the operation of the rupturing means, except upon the application of a predetermined pressure to the rupturing means.

8. The combination with a contact mine, of a firing gear therefor, said gear including a guide tube, a water-pressure operated detonator in said guide tube, a body portion having a bore communicating with said guide tube, a frangible protector normally closing said bore and an arcuate lever sup ported at two points on said body portion by shearing pins, said lever having tooth portions adapted to rupture the protector upon the shearing of either or both of said ins.

p 9. The combination with a contact mine, of a firing gear therefor, said gear including a guide tube, a water-pressure-operated detonator in said guide tube, a body portion having a bore communicating with said guide tube, a frangible protector normally closing said bore and an arcuate lever supported at tWo points on said body portion by shearing pins, said lever having tooth portions adapted to rupture the protector upon the shearing of either or both of said pins, and means to prevent the pivotal movement of the lever and the shearing of said pins during the launching of the mine.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

JAMES HUBER.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner 0! Patents, Washington, D. G. 

